The crow's hammer

The crow, a medieval machine of war, used to hammer and break the top of the walls during a siege. It was named after the powerful beak of a bird. Why did we discover last weekend in the Eindhoven Historic Open Air museum....

Two of the hooligan jackdaws

A relative of the crow, the jackdaw is a common inhabitant of the museum premises. Thus-far they were just annoying birds, eager to get their beaks on anything edible that was unprotected: an egg, a piece of cheese, an apple, a rhubarb pie to name a few. This weekend they changed their tactics to a more brutal kind. We had an earthenware milk bowl with dough for medieval lasagne next to the fire, covered with a lid. After the dough had risen enough and the lasagne was rolled and cooked, the milk bowl was left unattended next to the fire. The daws saw their chance and tried to get the remaining dough from the bowl. Tic tic tic did their powerful beaks. And like a modern hammer-drill or the medieval crow, they wreaked their destruction at the hapless bowl... 

 The destroyed milk bowl

So we have to look for another bowl and keep a better eye on the Eindhoven hammerbeaks.